Free Republic

As scandals concerning the left-wing "community" group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) continue to metastasize, the organization seems to think it can handpick allies to "investigate" its own transgressions. Fortunately for the rest of us, the growth of independent writers and researchers using modern communications means there are plenty of other outfits that can and will expose corruption. Case in point: The Pelican Institute think tank in New Orleans keeps unearthing examples of federal and state tax liens against ACORN's national headquarters in the Crescent City. The institute's indefatigable research broke into national attention yesterday via a...

Clarice Feldman The federal government should review all tax returns prepared by ACORN tax preparers (and all loan applications prepared by ACORN -- but that is a separate review process). That the IRS knows who these people are is suggested by this article, which I suppose was repeated throughout the country: ... ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Tax and Benefits Centers in Hartford and Bridgeport are ready to assist CT Taxpayers. ACORN has partnered with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Preparation (VITA) program to provide free tax preparation for low and moderate income taxpayers who cannot afford...

Remember when Nancy Pelosi made that famous promise? "This will be the most ethical congress ever." Despite all the evidence that Rangel should be taking a "perp walk" rather than the position of Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Pelosi says she is waiting for the House Ethics Committee to complete its wide-ranging investigation before she makes a decision about Rangel..Why is Pelosi supporting Charlie Rangel and ignoring the volume of evidence against him? Its not because of any long standing friendship of loyalty, its because she needs to protect her own political butt:

Remember that promise made by Nancy Pelosi? "This will be the most ethical congress ever." There are many examples of how that was an empty promise, the latest of which is her support of Charlie Rangel. Despite all the evidence that Rangel should be taking a "perp walk" rather than the position of Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Pelosi says she is waiting for the House Ethics Committee to complete its wide-ranging investigation before she makes a decision about Rangel. Others are Not waiting. Today the left wing newspaper, The Washington Post repeated its call for...

LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, PATRICIA J. HAYNES, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division ("IRSCID"), JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), RONALD J. VERROCHIO, the Inspector-in- Charge of the New York Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service ("USPIS"), and JAMIE WOODWARD, the Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance ("NYSDTF"), announced the unsealing of a four-count Indictment charging...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Harriette Monica Walters, 52, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced this morning in federal court to 17 years, six months of incarceration for her eighteen-year-long, $48 million fraud scheme at the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Channing D. Phillips, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein, Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Charles Willoughby, Inspector General for the District of Columbia, Special Agent in Charge C. Andre' Martin of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, J. Russell George,...

Maybe when City College of NY is done building Charlie Rangel's favorite Pork project, the $1.95 million, federal earmark funded Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service one of the first courses they could teach is "Playing Fast and Loose with Ethics 101." This past year, has not been kind to Congressmen Charlie Rangel. In September he admitted a failure to report $75 thousand in taxes. Rangel is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, they write the tax law. You would think that he would be extra-careful to make sure that he would follow the tax law....

Reporting from Mecca, Calif. -- An hour before dawn in the camp of last resort. Dozens of men and a few women are asleep in the beds of pickup trucks, in the back seats of cars or on flattened cardboard boxes in the dirt behind the Toro Loco market. The air is cool, but the terrible sun is close at hand. Martin Zavala is wrapped in a blanket, his head resting on a Scooby-Doo pillow, a pack of Marlboros under his neck. Thieves prowl at night and will snatch what is not secured. Drunks and meth-addled tweakers tease the dozing...

Michael Wayne Sulfridge, a resident of Union Grove, Alabama and former vice president of corporate finance at Image Entry, Inc. (Image Entry), pleaded guilty today to fraud and tax evasion charges stemming from the company’s 2001 acquisition by Sourcecorp, Inc. (Sourcecorp), Assistant Attorney of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Tax Division John A. DiCicco and U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas announced. Sulfridge, 44, pleaded guilty to a two-count criminal information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, as well as tax evasion. According...

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Daniel W. Auer, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that defendant Thomas Y. Jimenez, 50, of Plantation, FL, was sentenced today to 36 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by one year of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $587,876.52 in restitution. The sentence followed his January 2009 plea to a one count Information charging him with obstructing and impeding the due administration of the tax laws, in violation of Title...

Roger Corbin, a Nassau County Legislator representing the Second Legislative District, was arrested today pursuant to a federal complaint charging him with filing false federal tax returns and making false statements to Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. The defendant’s initial appearance is scheduled later today before United States Magistrate Arlene R. Lindsay at the U.S. Courthouse, 100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, New York. The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph M. Demarest, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),...

Abuse is rampant in the collection of fraudulent income tax refunds from the IRS, especially by illegal immigrants -- according to a new report to be released by the Social Contract Press on April 14. The 51-page report, The Earned Income Tax Credit and Illegal Immigration: A Study in Fraud, Abuse, and Liberal Activism, by financial analyst and economist Edwin Rubenstein, will be released at a News Conference at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at the National Press Club (529 14th St., NW, 13th floor) in Washington, D.C. "The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest anti-poverty...

<p>The economic earthquake rocking the country is allowing plenty of dirty little secrets to seep out in a way that a robust economy would not have.</p> <p>There's Bernie Madoff (as in ``Bernie made off'' with my money); billion-dollar bonuses for bailed-out bankers racking up billions in losses (Merrill(ly) Lynch); Northern Trust(me) of Chicago using some of its $1.5 billion in bailout money for PGA golf tournaments and Sheryl Crow; well, you get the idea, and that's just the low-hanging fruit.</p>

When someone proposes an initiative ballot measure, the attorney general gives it an official title and summary. There's always been much political angst, as well as legal wrangling, over the wording of controversial issues. . . . When the Legislature places a measure on the ballot, however, it often bypasses the attorney general by specifying the ballot title and even indirectly designating those who write ballot pamphlet arguments. In other words, the Legislature, in league with the governor, tries to fix the election by fixing how measures are portrayed. Cases in point are the six measures that the Legislature and...

Akaka (D-HI), YeaAlexander (R-TN), NayBarrasso (R-WY), NayBaucus (D-MT), Yea Bayh (D-IN), YeaBegich (D-AK), YeaBennet (D-CO), YeaBennett (R-UT), NayBingaman (D-NM), Yea Bond (R-MO), Not VotingBoxer (D-CA), YeaBrown (D-OH), Not VotingBrownback (R-KS), NayBunning (R-KY), Nay Burr (R-NC), NayBurris (D-IL), YeaByrd (D-WV), NayCantwell (D-WA), YeaCardin (D-MD), Yea Carper (D-DE), YeaCasey (D-PA), YeaChambliss (R-GA), NayCoburn (R-OK), NayCochran (R-MS), Nay Collins (R-ME), NayConrad (D-ND), YeaCorker (R-TN), YeaCornyn (R-TX), YeaCrapo (R-ID), Yea DeMint (R-SC), NayDodd (D-CT), YeaDorgan (D-ND), YeaDurbin (D-IL), Yea Ensign (R-NV), Yea Enzi (R-WY), NayFeingold (D-WI), NayFeinstein (D-CA), YeaGraham (R-SC), YeaGrassley (R-IA), Nay Gregg (R-NH), YeaHagan (D-NC), YeaHarkin (D-IA), NayHatch (R-UT), YeaHutchison (R-TX),...

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An intrepid researcher has discovered more than 200 tax liens totaling more than $3.7 million have been filed by the government against the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now for unpaid taxes since the late eighties. A tax lien is issued when a person or organization fails to pay taxes and that tax debt is considered seriously delinquent. A lien is only issued after the government makes several unsuccessful attempts to collect the debt. The conservative-leaning Capital Research Center’s Matthew Vadum found a staggering number of liens listed against ACORN’s national headquarters at 1024 Elysian Fields Avenue in New...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The Associated Press has learned that Charles Rangel will not step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee.

Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, said Wednesday he will not step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee in the face of a call from the Republican leader in the House for him to do so. Rep. Charles Rangel says he will pay back taxes on rental property he owns in the Dominican Republic. Rangel has been under fire for failing to report income from a rental property he owns in the Dominican Republic. He admitted Tuesday he had not paid tax on the income, but said it was a mistake and he will...

Former IRS Employee Sued for Tax Scam Chicago (Sept. 5, 2008) By WebCPA staff | The Justice Department has accused a former Internal Revenue Service secretary of cheating her tax prep clients and the government out of approximately $850,000. The government filed suit in a federal district court in Chicago seeking a permanent injunction against Debra Windham to prevent her from preparing tax returns from others. Windham, who prepares returns under the business name Special Circumstances, allegedly claimed false deductions for her clients and then applied without their knowledge for refund anticipation loans in their names.